In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Keith Lockitch discuss the false viewpoint that Ayn Rand belonged to the "conservative" movement.
Among the topics covered:
Why people associate Ayn Rand with the "conservative" movement;
Rand's own experience with the conservative movement;
What people saw conservatism as standing for in Rand's time;
Rand's view that the defense of freedom has to be based in the morality of self-interest, not altruism;
Rand's central charge that conservatism was intellectually bankrupt and unwilling to reject altruism;
Rand's response to the conservative arguments for freedom;
How Rand predicted the rise of militant conservative mystics in the 1980s;
Rand's criticism of the conservative attack on abortion rights;
Rand's criticisms of conservatism summarized;
Whether conservatives and libertarians are better candidates than liberals and progressives to be persuaded by Objectivism;
Tribalism in both conservativism and the left;
Rand's opposition to the military draft.
Mentioned in the discussion are Ayn Rand's essay "Conservatism: an Obituary," her talk "The Age of Mediocrity," and Elan Journo's essay "What Was Ayn Rand's View of 'Conservatism'?".
This podcast was recorded on July 7, 2021.
